St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1887-12-21
MAI. EDWARDS AT ABERDEEN
He Shows How He Was Not
Knocked Out, But Won a Vic

tory.
To the Editor of the Globe.
Since the adjournment of the Aber-
deem convention the exciting topic in
some of the political circles has been:
Did that body, or the Cass county por-
ton of it, beStride the anatomy of the
ponderous mayor of Fargo, Maj.
Edwards? 1t is alleged by the friends
OF the major that the GLOBES dispatch
from Aberdeen grievOuSly misappre
hended the facts and furnished deluSive
material for the historian of that notable
occasion. In an interview the major
makes this statement:
1.-The GLOBES report errs. l had no
controversies, no plans, no enemies to
punish. Arrangements had been made
for sleeper from here to Aberdeen. to
leave Wednesday evening, of which
several days notice was given, and all
delegates invited. Col. Greene was
elected chairman of the Cass county
delegation Tuesday night, and left with
Col. Dodge for Aberdeen via Jamestown
at l a. III. When the CasS county dele
CATION arrived at Aberdeen Tuesday
morning they naturally sought to have
a caucus. About a. m. ! was Informed
that the proceedings of the convention
had been prearranged, and everything
was to be harmonious. The CasS county
delegation met about noon, and Col.
Greene stated that no trades had been
made. Col. Dodge did not put
in an appearance, knowing that
the temporary and permanent
chairmen had been selected. and
that the permanent chairman had list
of fifteen names who were to form the
70 i'm 70 q e
delegation. When Col. Greene made the
motion Mr.. Burr, of WalwOrth county,
offered substitute that instead of the
chair appointing this committee accord
ing to the cut and dried programme,
each county delegation name one of
their number as member of this COM
mittee. 1 supported Mr.. Burr's motion
and the CaSS county delegation de-
manded to be polled. Col. Greene asked
the chair to rule on the instructions,
claiming that he, as chairman of the
delegation, had the right to vote
for the absentees. Mr.. Rice ruled
that the delegates present should
instruct Col. Greene how to
cast the fOrty-twO votes of CaSS county.
After polling the delegation Mr.. Greene
announced four votes for his motion
and thirty-eight for the substitute
of Mr.. Burr. which | supported. If Col.
Greene and his three supporters were
the Cass county delegation, then the
GLOBES report is correct. If the thirty
eight votes announced by the chairman
against his motion, and in favor of the
substitute | supported, were the CaSS
county delegation, Il Ell the report is
erroneous. Coils. Greene and Dodge,
Capt. Spalding and United States
Marshal Maratta were the four support
ing the chairman. Capt. Maratta, while
making a friendly visit to the Argus
Office to-day, said to me that, had he I'M
derstood what undetermined work Greene
and Dodge were trying to do,
he would have voted against them, and
this would have left the vote of the del
egation 80 to 8. l don't know but it
might have been 40 to 2, as Capt. Spal-
ding was on the stage acting as secre-
tary, and not consulted; but l was sat-
isfied with the 80. have no feeling in
the matter, and would have cheerfully
given Col. Dodge my support as one of
the Washington delegation; but did
object to seeing the CasS county dele
by one clothed with little brief author
ity. The polling of the delegation
showed Col. Greene'S strength"
The following, from the Aberdeen
Republican, seems to cOrroborate the
view taken by the major: Maj. A.
W. Edwards, of the Cass delegation,
scored a most complete and brilliant
triumph over his enemies. There was
a manifest disposition on the part of the
advance guard of his delegation to do
the major dirty work. When the old
warrior arrived he learned that certain
members of his delegation, who had ar
rived in the city several hours previous,
had captured all the honors that Cass
county was entitled to, by representing
they controlled their delegation. The
major went into the convention with
thfrty-eight votes of his delegation
which consisted of fOrty-twO-sOlid for
himself. When Cass county's vote was
called, thirty-eight voted with the
major, while four voted with the fell
lows who promised so much. This was
honor enough for one convention, and
the major, with his portion of the dele
CATION, left early IN the evening for
home.
Fargo Dec -